Dessau Hauptbahnhof

Geschichte

Dessau Hauptbahnhof is the main passenger station in the city of Dessau-Roßlau in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.LocationThe station is located to the south of the Elbe and to the west of central Dessau. It is a through station, orientated from the north-east to the south-west. Located on its south-eastern frontage is a stop for Dessau trams and buses operated by Dessauer Verkehrsgesellschaft, the city’s public transport operator.HistoryDessau had an important role in rail transport from the early days of railways in Germany because of the crossing over the Elbe to its north. The first railway was opened on 1 September 1840 by the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company. As early as 1911 the line to Bitterfeld was electrified experimentally. Because of the location of several industrial enterprises in the region, such as the Junkers aircraft factory, the railway was very important for rail freight.In World War II, the station building was destroyed in an air raid on 7 March 1945 and was rebuilt up to 1952.While the station was formerly a stop for InterRegio and Intercity trains, it is now almost exclusively served by regional transport as Dessau is not located on the busy Berlin–Halle and Magdeburg–Halle–Leipzig lines.